These are the Western Conference All-Star jerseys. The Eastern Conference jerseys will be similar but a deep shade of blue, with an E and "EAST" on the front. / Adidas

by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK - The noisemakers - and fashion critics - have been heard. They don't like short-sleeved NBA jerseys.

Even a few players have balked at them. But here's one thing they should remember before they protest too much: Players split half of basketball-related income with the NBA, and the sale of merchandise is part of that. The more merchandise sold, the more money for them.

And, well, the jerseys are selling.

"Sales of the short-sleeved jersey have exceeded expectations," Chris Grancio, Adidas' head of global marketing, told USA TODAY Sports. "That to me is the ultimate vote of confidence."

Still, Adidas and the NBA have heard the noise, too. They aren't too concerned, but they are listening to feedback from players.

"We don't build something like this in a vacuum," Grancio said.

They're also not concocting a sinister plan to make every basketball team in the world switch from the traditional tank-top jerseys to the short-sleeved variety.

"There is no grand vision from NBA or Adidas that this will be the new uniform for every team forever," Grancio said. "But we do want to find partners who embrace. We want to use league-wide platforms like Christmas Day and (the) All-Star (Game) to introduce it and celebrate it."

Grancio said it took several years of development to get to the point where it felt comfortable giving players prototypes to try. After the fourth prototype, he said, the short-sleeved jersey "provided performance benefits as a tank top."

There is a buffer between the sleeve and the jersey, which would resemble a regular tank jersey if the sleeves where detached. That buffer "takes all of the movement of the arm so the jersey doesn't tug or pull or ride," Grancio said. "When it's fit properly, it minimizes all the potential issues of playing in a T-shirt and allows for 100% free range of motion."

About 10 years ago, the NBA wanted All-Star jerseys that were "designed around the host city. We love to tell stories," said Christopher Arena, who works in the NBA's merchandising group. "We wanted to do unique All-Star uniforms."

From a visual standpoint, this year's All-Star jerseys are different, starting with the color. The West will feature a purple fleur-de-lis, and the East will feature a green one. That's a break from traditional colors, which normally have been shades of red and blue, save for the era when players wore their team jerseys.

Each conference's initial - W and E - is incorporated into New Orleans' ubiquitous symbol.

"That creates a much stronger graphic mark that is iconic for Louisiana and New Orleans," Grancio said.

From an innovation standpoint, the jerseys are part of Adidas' Revolution 30 design, introduced a few seasons ago using the high-tech material - 60% of it recycled - to make jerseys lighter, drier and more comfortable. This year, Adidas made the logo and number system lighter than the everyday jerseys.

The players also will wear shorts that are lighter than those worn in regular-season games.

The jerseys are fit for the players, but when fans go into the store they don't have to worry about having to be in-shape enough for that tight fit. A more relaxed design is sold to fans.

"We thought it was an opportunity to give fans to embrace their team," Grancio said. "The standard (tank-top) jersey is hard for a lot of people to wear."